Rumored: Saraya (53%)
Saraya laying out an open challenge at All In hasn’t been formally announced, but there’s been enough smoke about it at this point that we suspect there might be fire. After all, leaving Saraya off the Wembley card entirely — one year after she won the women’s world title there — would seem to be an odd choice, and Saraya seeking a 2024 “Wembley moment” has been the focus of her creative lately, culminating in her failed attempt to dethrone “Timeless” Toni Storm on this week’s “AEW Dynamite.” The rumored open challenge would be a way of getting Saraya (and a third women’s match) onto the card, and if it does happen, we’re narrowly coming down on Saraya’s side, with the leader of The Outcasts accruing 53% of our votes.
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Granted, anyone can answer an open challenge, from the Queen-themed Emi Sakura to the long-absent (and also British) Jamie Hayter, but slightly more than half of us are counting on Saraya actually getting a second consecutive Wembley moment — and possibly her last one, depending on how her AEW contract situation goes from here.
Written by Miles Schneiderman
Zero Hour: Willow Nightingale and Tomohiro Ishii (88%)
Kicking off the festivities on August 25 is mixed tag team match that will see CMLL Women’s World Champion Willow Nightingale team up with NJPW star Tomohiro Ishii as they attempt to gain a measure of revenge on Kris Statlander and Stokely Hathaway. The winning team will earn the right to determine the stipulation for Nightingale and Statlander’s match at the All Out pay-per-view on September 7, which is likely to be for Nightingale’s CMLL Women’s World Championship.
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Given that this is likely to be a tag team match with a comedic flavor before the two women beat the snot out of each other two weeks later, it’s highly likely that this will end up being a fun little match to set the tone for the evening, and you don’t really want to get things off on the wrong foot. There are a few things we will obviously want to see from this bout. Keeping Nightingale and Statlander strong enough to make their pending title match feel more evenly matched, Ishii being the stoic figure AEW fans have become familiar with over the summer, and Hathaway to get thrown around the entire stadium like a small child playing with their parents.
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Written by Sam Palmer
FTW Championship: HOOK (88%)
HOOK is heading into All In with one eye and a big grudge. For the second year in a row, he’s headed to Wembley Stadium looking to reclaim his FTW Championship from an entitled, wily opponent, this time in the form of “The Learning Tree” Chris Jericho.
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Considering last year’s show saw HOOK win the title, it is not a stretch to believe that the scion to the FTW Championship legacy could triumph again. Jericho has been adamant that the point of this storyline is about advancing HOOK further with a six-month storyline that has seen him tangle with Jericho, Bryan Keith, Big Bill, and even get advice from Japanese wrestling legend Katsuyori Shibata. The story has been stretched possibly beyond its limits at this point, and Wembley feels like the place to finally put a button on things.
It doesn’t help that fans have outright rejected Jericho over the past few months, and any more time tangled in “The Jericho Vortex” could prove lethal to HOOK’s momentum. For that reason, an overwhelming majority of the Wrestling Inc. staff think HOOK will once again be triumphant.
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Written by Ross Berman
AEW American Championship: Will Ospreay (88%)
Will Ospreay returns to England this weekend looking to right the wrong of losing his AEW International Championship to MJF in just shy of 60 minutes of action. That night in July, like so many times before, “The Devil” used underhanded tactics to get what he now describes as an “easy dub,” subsequently rebranding the title to the AEW American Championship. However, the poll put to our Wrestling Inc. team doesn’t reflect a belief that things will go quite so easy for the “American Hero” as he crosses the Atlantic. A majority 88% believe Ospreay will make good on his decree of vengeance at Wembley Stadium.
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It would be an early end to the current title reign of the previously longest-reigning AEW World Champion, considering he won the title less than 40 days ago and this will be just his third defense. But Ospreay’s had a string of success since joining AEW, defeating the likes of Bryan Danielson and Chris Jericho while only suffering defeat to the reigning World Champion, Swerve Strickland, and his own All In opponent. Chances are slim for MJF as he heads behind enemy lines, and we expect Ospreay to not only win, but to restore the International Championship to its former glory.
Written by Max Everett
Casino Gauntlet match for future AEW world title shot: Hangman Adam Page (71%)
“Hangman” Adam Page is officially booked for All In after previously revealing in an interview with Paste magazine that he “bought a ticket,” booked a hotel room, and planned to be at Wembley Stadium in London. His involvement with the Casino Gauntlet match at the pay-per-view was confirmed Wednesday night on “AEW Dynamite,” and if you ask the WINC staff, 71% of us believe Page is walking out of London with a future AEW World Championship shot.
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Page refusing to let up in his blood feud with current AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland is the primary reason most of us see him coming out on top — especially since the title shot in question can supposedly be “cashed in” like the Money in the Bank briefcase, throwing a new wrinkle into the All In main event. Currently, Orange Cassidy is the only other confirmed entrant for the gauntlet match, as he will be the first out to begin the match, which can end at any time via pinfall or submission whether all entrants have made their way into the ring or not, through set time intervals. While the field is likely to be star-studded, Page makes the most sense to most of us — though other wrestlers receiving votes include the missing Jon Moxley, Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada, new AEW signee Ricochet, and even retired commentator Nigel McGuinness.
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Written by Daisy Ruth